A judicial panel suspended Moore for the remainder of his term after finding he urged state probate judges to defy the federal courts on gay marriage. Moore denied the accusations, saying he never told probate judges what to do.

The Alabama Supreme Court issued a 5-3 decision describing the selection of replacement judges. They said the names of 50 judges will be drawn randomly from a pool of retired appellate, circuit and district judges. The first seven willing judges will serve as the special Supreme Court to hear Moore’s appeal.